Well, we've had quite the adventure with Purest, and now Hunted. When I first learned about Delphi, I felt like I could never characterise her properly, but Bella's helped me with that during this writing journey. I think I've learned a lot from writing this story, but I'm glad that this is our final stamp on it.

Thank you for all your reviews and support. We'll definitely be focusing on Shadow next, and we have more ideas to come. Thank you again!

Dora

Dora would never forget the day that her daughter Bellatrix left on the train for Hogwarts. The girl was beyond excited, though she'd been made aware that there would be trouble ahead for her. Dora was inclined to believe that Bella being able to go to Hogwarts solidified her husband's belief that he had done the right thing, but no one said anything of it.

Rabastan's betrayal was only even mentioned in snide remarks from Rigel, who had never forgiven his father for what he had done. The young man was standing on the other side of his mother, smiling at his sister as she said her goodbyes to them. "Don't waver in your beliefs," Rigel admonished her. "You've got a good head on your shoulders: remember to think before you act."

"As if you always did," Bella rolled her eyes at him, but grinned. "I'll be fine." She turned to her mother, who was cradling their baby brother. "Bye, Leo," she said to him, leaning in to kiss his cheek, then her mother's cheek. "Bye, Mum. I'll let you know how things go."

"Be strong," Dora said softly, putting one hand on her daughter's shoulder. "You're going to lead the way for Leo, you know. You're helping to build our reputation with whatever you do at school. Choose wisely."

Bellatrix nodded once, glancing her mother and father. She hugged Andromeda properly, then stepped back as the first train whistle blew. Rabastan and Rigel stepped forward to take Bella's trunk to the train, Rigel giving his father a blank before nodding to the man and standing aside. Bellatrix shot a grateful look at her brother, then hurried after her dad to the Hogwarts Express.

"Think she'll be all right?" Rigel asked his mother.

"She'll find her way," Nymphadora answered, looking down at baby Leo. "She is your sister, after all."

Rigel smirked and slipped his arm around his mother, looking down at his little brother. "We're all going to grow up very differently," he mused. "I was raised completely sheltered, Bella was raised sheltered but is going to Hogwarts, and Leo won't know anything about the things our family has gone through these last few decades."

Dora drew a deep breath as she saw Rabastan coming back toward them as the second whistle blew. "I would much rather have raised you all free," she said, "but it couldn't be helped."

The young man nodded. "Love you, Mum," he said quietly before moving away from her and his father to wave at Bella, who was looking out of a window at them. "Have fun, Bella!" he called to her with a grin.

Dora and Rab waved as well, though as the train rounded the bend out of sight, Rabastan took her arm and disapparated back to their home without a word to Rigel or Andromeda.

A sixteen-year-old Bellatrix Narcissa Lestrange was striding down the hall of Lestrange Manor, her five-year old brother racing to meet her. "You're home!" he declared happily, hugging her tightly. "It's about time!"

"Did you miss me?" Bella laughed. "You have Mum and Dad and Nan, you know."

"Yes, but they're old," Leo huffed, glancing around to see if they'd heard him. "Rigel's not that old, but he's busy because he's getting married."

"He is," Bella agreed. "But Lyra's fun, remember?"

Leo nodded. "She's nice," he said. "Come on, let's go see Mother. She's waiting on you."

Bella took her little brother's offered hand and the two hurried down the hall to the sitting room. "She's here, Mother!" he called, entering the room and running up to her, jumping onto the couch between her and his grandmother.

"Careful," Andromeda admonished the young boy.

He grinned at her winsomely as his mother got to her feet, walking across the room and embracing her daughter. "Welcome home," Nymphadora said softly. "How was your journey?"

"Uneventful," Bellatrix smirked. "No dares bother me on the Hogwarts Express, Mother."

"Why not?" Leo asked curiously.

"Because last year, someone thought it would be funny for me to go home jinxed," Bella answered. "They all went home cursed, and I untouched."

Leo laughed, bouncing up off the couch to run over to them again. "If Dad were here, he'd tell you to behave," he said. "But Rigel says we have to defend ourselves." The boy's face clouded. "Belle, why do Dad and Rigel fight all the time?"

Nymphadora looked down at her son. "They simply disagree on certain things," she answered for her daughter, still unsure what the witch would have said. "Rigel and your father don't see eye to eye on a lot of things." She turned to her daughter, reaching out and touching the Slytherin house crest on her robes. "Go change your clothes, dear. We'll be having dinner soon."

The girl nodded, and Leo raced down the hall ahead of her, full of energy. Nymphadora shook her head at them, turning back to her seat beside Andromeda. "She's grown into a beautiful young woman," Andromeda said to Dora.

"She has," Dora sighed, leaning against the back of the couch. "She's done very well in making a place for herself. But she's kind and loyal, which is so much more than I could have asked for in a namesake of my mother."

Andromeda smirked. "Well, neither you, nor any of your children escaped her awful temper," she said. "But you're all lovable as you are, and we know that Rodolphus always loved your mother."

Nymphadora looked away from her aunt. "I can't believe he's been gone for five years already. It doesn't seem real."

"Do you ever wonder how Delphi's doing?" Andromeda asked, immediately adding, "of course you do" when she saw Dora's expression.

"She's rotting in Azkaban, and she told me that she hoped I'd always remember that she blames me just as much as she blames Rabastan," Dora murmured. "I don't want to talk about her. She just wanted her parents back: she didn't deserve all that."

Wisely, Andromeda nodded and didn't say anything else.

Nymphadora quietly knocked on the door of the room where her future daughter-in-law was getting ready for the wedding. The door opened and Luna Lovegood Scamander looked out before smiling and admitting her to the room. Dora looked at the bride, who was blushing furiously.

"Mrs Lestrange," Lyra breathed, turning slightly toward the witch as two other young witches straightened her skirt and stepped back. She wasn't really sure what to say, as she didn't know what Rigel's mother would be thinking.

"You can call me Dora if you would like," she said simply. "Calling me Mrs Lestrange makes me feel far older than I would like." She stepped forward and asked, "How do you feel?"

"I'm so nervous," Lyra said in a near whisper. "I..." she blushed deeply again "I'm used to my quiet little family, and I only know Rigel. I don't really know the rest of you, even though he tells me you're the best mother he could have ever had."

Nymphadora smiled at this praise, though she replied, "Rigel is probably my most well-behaved child, though the others aren't too bad, either. I've told him that if he's not a decent husband to you, he will have to answer to me for it."

Lyra couldn't help but laugh at this. "You may have to fight my brothers for that," she said. "They've told me the same thing."

"Then you'll be just fine," Dora said warmly. "Rigel adores you, you know. You two have known each other for a few years already, and now you'll finally belong to each other. Being husband and wife is all about learning to live together, and it does take a while to figure out. You two have a jump start on it all."

The witch agreed. "I've known him for seven years," she said. "I met him just after I turned eighteen."

"What I want to know is how you knew who he was," Nymphadora said in amusement. "What gave him away?"

"The way he talked so stiffly at first, he sounded like he was from an old pureblood family," Lyra remembered. "Then, with the things he said, I realised that he was from a family on the other side of the war. He was so private, and never wanted to talk about his family except for his little sister. He never invited me to his home, at least before the whole Ministry incident, and he never offered to introduce me to you and his father."

Lyra shook her head, a small smile on her face. "Even though he morphed the first several times I met him, I knew that he was something special, and I began to suspect who he was when he once defended your own mother and you to my entire family."

Dora's mouth fell open. "Did he really?" she gasped.

"He did," Lyra laughed. "I don't think the men knew, but mother and I knew almost immediately." She and Luna shared a knowing look, Lyra grinning in amusement. "He did seem a bit too outraged that one of my brothers had called you an evil witch."

"Oh dear," Nymphadora sighed, and Lyra reached out her hand to the woman.

"We know you better now," she said, taking Dora's hand in hers. "Your whole family is actually lovely, in spite of all the whispers and pettiness."

The door opened and Andromeda looked into the room. "We're nearly ready," she said urgently.

"Where's Belle?" Dora said worriedly. "Shouldn't she be in here?"

"She stepped out just before you came in," Lyra answered calmly. "Her brother wanted to talk to her."

"Oh," Dora said, then smiled. "I'll go and send her along. Good luck, Lyra."

"Thank you," Lyra said quietly.

Nymphadora left the room, making her way to where Rigel stood alone with Lyra's two brothers, none of them speaking to each other. "Mother," Rigel said, sounding grateful to see her. "Dad's just stormed off and Belle's gone to try to talk some sense into him."

Dora frowned. "I won't even ask what you said to him," she said. "Where have they gone?"

Rigel sighed. "I think he was heading toward the garden, but I don't know," he answered.

She hurried away from them without saying a word, saddened to think that her husband and son were fighting again on the boy's wedding day. Dora was able to locate her husband and daughter a few steps into the garden, Bella entreating her father worriedly.

"Rabastan?" Dora asked softly. "Belle?"

"Dora—thank Merlin," Rabastan sighed. "Run along, Bella."

"I want to be called Belle, or Bellatrix, you know that," Bella reminded her father before she turned and went to join Lyra and the bridesmaids.

"Come on, Rab, they're about to start," Dora said softly. Rabastan shook his head slightly and Dora asked, "What's wrong, Rab?"

He took a deep breath, then said, "I tried to advise him and he wouldn't listen to me. But it's fine. It'll be on his own head if he fails. I've done my best."

Dora nodded, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "You have," she agreed. "Now let's go get these two married. Merlin knows they've been waiting for years."

Rabastan chuckled slightly, and offered his arm to his wife, which she took gratefully, allowing him to lead her back into the house.

Nymphadora always remembered Rigel and Lyra's wedding as the sweetest wedding she'd ever attended. Between the amusing things Leo said and the lovely way Rigel and Lyra looked at each other, Dora wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. But she sat there with Rabastan's arm around her, proud of and happy for her son. She could only hope that Rigel had learned from their wisdom, their past, and their mistakes, and that he could lead his and Lyra's family—the House of Lestrange—proudly into the future and continue their legacy for generations to come.